Bagir calls bribe accusation slanderous
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan reiterated on Wednesday he had not received any bribe money from businessman Probosutedjo, describing the accusation made by the latter's lawyer as "slanderous".
"This is 100 percent slander against me as chief justice because I don't know -- and have nothing to do with -- this bribery case," he said at his office, the day after Probosutedjo admitted to giving his lawyer Rp 6 billion (US$600,000) to bribe the chief justice and other court officials dealing with his appeal against his graft conviction.
Bagir, who is also a professor of law at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, said the bribery allegation had damaged his reputation as well as that of the Supreme Court.
"I am very firm against bribery. Since I became a chief justice, bribery eradication has been my number one priority," he said.
A number of judges, as well as court officials, have been punished by the Supreme Court for their involvement in bribery cases, Bagir claimed.
He challenged Probosutedjo, who claimed he had disbursed a total of Rp 16 billion in bribe money to court officials since he was convicted by the Central Jakarta District Court in 2003 over a graft case, to report the identities of the court officials to the Supreme Court.
It was alleged by Probosutedjo that Rp 10 billion was disbursed while his case was being heard at the district and the high court. The remaining Rp 6 billion was disbursed after his lawyer, Harini Wijoso, suggested that he bribe Supreme Court officials and judges to overturn his two-year prison sentence handed down by the Jakarta High Court.
He had initially been sentenced to four years' imprisonment by the Central Jakarta District Court.
The lawyer allegedly told Probosutedjo that Rp 5 billion of the Rp 6 billion would be given to Bagir, who lead the panel of three Supreme Court justices who heard the appeal case. The other Rp 1 billion would be allocated for the other judges and several Supreme Court staff members, the lawyer said.
"Did he give the money to the district court or to the appeal court? We need to know in order to root out what happened," Bagir said, referring to possible court mafia.
Bagir said for the time being he would not step down from his position as suggested by a number of parties, including the Judicial Commission.
"I have no reason to step down. I am innocent. I have nothing to do with bribery," he said.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has so far arrested Harini, a judge-turned-lawyer, and five Supreme Court employees since last Friday in relation to the bribery case. The KPK confiscated some $400,000 and Rp 800 million of the alleged bribe money.
The five Supreme Court staff members are: general affairs bureau head Malam Pagi Sinuhadji; Suhartoyo and Sudi Ahmad, both of whom work for the court's Indonesian civil servants corps unit; Sriyadi, a staff member with the court's civil affairs division; and Pono Waluyo, a staff member with the court's travel division.
Probosutejo, the half-brother of Soeharto, was convicted of abusing reforestation funds, which cost the state some Rp 100 billion in losses.